That very lack of depth crippled the offense in Denver, where quarterback Mark Sanchez struggled to put the team on his shoulders and take over when the Jets needed him. Instead, he threw a third-quarter pick-six and looked uncomfortable in the pocket for most of the evening.

So no what? Well, the Jets, 5-5, might be on a two-game losing streak and need to win out to get into the playoff conversation, but the Bills are in much worse shape. They may share the same 5-5 record, but in three weeks Buffalo has gone from one of the AFC's best teams to one of its worst.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan, clear on where things stand 11 weeks into the season, gave some of the first-team practice reps to backup Mark Brunell earlier this week, presumably in an effort to motivate Sanchez. It's something Ryan has done before and Sanchez responded by playing well down.

NFL Network's Albert Breer reported Sunday morning that Sanchez looked good in practice in recent days, which is a positive sign for the Jets. Whether it's enough to make up for the lack of depth in the backfield, or to reel off six games in a row remains to be seen.

After a tough loss to the Broncos last week, the New York Jets hope to bounce back as they prepare to take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. NFL.com's Pat Kirwan and Jason Horowitz have the preview. Watch the game on CBS at 1 PM ET.

The Jets last played nine days ago against the Broncos, in a game just about everybody had them winning. But that was when we were still underestimating the awesome power of Tim Tebow. (Truthfully, that win had more to do with Von Miller and Denver's defense but who wants to talk about that? Oh, right: us!)

New York's now 5-5, two games back of New England in a division they have little chance of winning, and they're facing long odds of earning a wild-card berth, too.

The road to playoffs starts Sunday against the Bills, a team they demolished three weeks ago, 27-11. After that, it's at Washington, Kansas City, at Philly, New York Giants, and at Miami. Not the easiest slate of games, but also short of impossibly difficult. Which is good because the Jets will probably have to win out to have a shot at qualifying for the playoffs.

The news gets better: that's exactly what they intend to do.

“Six-and-0,” linebacker Calvin Pace said, according to the New York Daily News. “Sometimes when you get caught losing to teams you’re not supposed to lose to, you end up kicking yourself in the butt saying, ‘Man, we put ourselves behind the eight-ball. These are games we should win.’ ”

There's been a lot of self-flagellation through 11 weeks for the Jets then. The Pats whipped up on New York four days before the Broncos loss. And the Jets dropped three straight games to Oakland, Baltimore and New England after beginning the season 2-0.

“I feel like we do have to win these last six games,” said LaDainian Tomlinson. “That would put us at 11-5; that should be enough to get us in. You look at 10-6 and I don’t know if that is enough.”

In most years, 11 wins guarantees you a wild-card spot, and sometimes even a division title. But as it stands, the Jets are ninth in the AFC, and behind three teams for the sixth and final playoff slot. That said, they're only one game out of the No. 6 spot (Cincinnati is 6-4).

But it's still November. A lot can change in the next six weeks. We're just not sure if part of that change includes the Jets going on a six-game winning streak.

After a tough loss to the Broncos last week, the New York Jets hope to bounce back as they prepare to take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. NFL.com's Pat Kirwan and Jason Horowitz have the preview. Watch the game on CBS at 1 PM ET.

Rex Ryan has been fined $75,000 by the NFL for cursing at a fan during halftime of the Jets loss to the Patriots in Week 10, CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman first reported.

This is the second time Ryan has been fined a substantial amount of money for either making an obscene gesture or speaking inappropriately to fans.

We told you on Sunday that Ryan could expect a big fine. He had been lifted of $50,000 in 2010 for flipping fans the bird at a UFC event, and during halftime of the Jets-Patriots game, a fan yelled at him, "Hey Rex, Belichick is better than you." That led Ryan to respond, "Shut the f--- up." All of it was caught on video, forcing Ryan to apologize for his words.

"I obviously made a mistake,” Ryan said last week. “I was full of emotion and just popped off. Obviously, I know I represent the NFL, I know I represent the Jets, and I know it was a mistake. I apologize for it. It’s who I am sometimes ... I’m about as big a competitor there is. At that time, I was in no mood to hear anything, but I also understand I have to handle that better."

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Rex Ryan doesn’t mind talking and he doesn’t mind talking back to the fans who he thinks are disrespecting him. In 2010, he was fined $50,000 by the NFL for shooting fans the finger at a UFC event, and at the time, he said, "It was stupid and inappropriate. I wouldn't accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere."

Looks like Ryan didn’t learn his lesson.

As CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman reported last week, Ryan will be fined by the league after he cursed at a fan during halftime of last week’s Jets-Patriots game.

As Ryan walked into the tunnel to exit the field, a fan yelled, “Hey Rex, Belichick is better than you.” Responded Ryan, “Shut the f--- up.” You can see that in this video right here -- obviously watch out for strong language.

As Freeman wrote, “The league despises this kind of behavior,” and it sounds like Ryan is going to face a substantial fine next week. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that fine will be in the range of $75,000-$100,000.

Once again, Ryan was contrite afterward.

"I obviously made a mistake,” Ryan said. “I was full of emotion and just popped off. Obviously, I know I represent the NFL, I know I represent the Jets, and I know it was a mistake. I apologize for it. It’s who I am sometimes ... I’m about as big a competitor there is. At that time, I was in no mood to hear anything, but I also understand I have to handle that better.

But hey, Ryan wasn’t the only one vulgar one that day. At least he didn’t tell anybody, unlike Patriots coach Bill Belichick (reportedly), to s--- his d---.

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Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has a saying: Style points don't matter. The Broncos should patent the phrase, or at the very least, make it a part of their 2011 marketing strategy: "The Denver Broncos: Where Style Points Don't Matter … but Winning Does."

Of course, Tim Tebow doesn't need much help selling this team to the locals -- and now the rest of the nation. Not after his latest comeback performance, one that included a "Yep, we're running and you can't stop us" game plan against Rex Ryan, the guy who literally wrote the book on defending the read-option.

Artist rendering of the Broncos' new helmet.

You know how announcers will sometimes say "(Typical NFL quarterback) has a clock in his head and he knows the ball has to be out of his hands after 2.5 seconds"? Tebow has no such clock (and no pocket awareness to speak of). Instead, his alarm sounds after 55 minutes of horrific football, signifying that now it matters, now it's time to play.

It happened in Tebow's first start of the season, Week 7 in Miami; he couldn't have looked worse through three quarters and two-thirds of another. And then, as if somebody flipped the switch on the electric football game, Tebow made plays with his arm and his feet (mostly his feet), and he had the ball in his hands for the decisive score.

Which was pretty much the script to the sequal we saw Thursday night against the Jets. Tebow drove the Broncos 95 yards with just over five minutes on the clock, and he scored on a 20-yard quarterback keeper that everybody knew was coming but no one could stop.

With 1:06 on the clock, the Jets leading 13-10, and the Broncos facing a 3rd and 4 from the New York 20, Tebow lined up in the shotgun. The Jets brought eight men to the line of scrimmage because there was no way Tebow would throw the ball. Too many things could go wrong. Plus, if the Jets stopped him, Denver could kick a field goal, tie the score, and take it to overtime.

Jets safety Eric Smith was on the line of scrimmage, lined up to the outside of the tight end on the right side of the formation (Tebow's left). His job was to keep Tebow from getting outside the pocket, instead forcing him into the middle of the field where, in theory, other Jets defenders would be waiting to make the tackle. Smith didn't do his job, he lost contain, Tebow beat him to the corner, and 20 yards later, that was that. Ball game.

The dotted lines are what should've happened -- Smith contains Tebow, forcing him inside. The solid lines are what actually happened: Smith took a horrible angle, Tebow scored (you can see a video of the play below).

“When you look at it, it’s a tough thing on him,” Jets head coach Ryan said during the post-game presser when asked about Smith’s angle. “I’ll just say this, it’s a tough assignment. There is no question. Quite honestly, I’ll take Eric Smith every day of the week. He’s a tremendous player. Could we have said, ‘Hey, [have] him be wider? Should the end be wider? Everybody be wider.’ Maybe you could’ve, but you have to give Tebow credit. He made the play. I will say this, Eric sold out. Eric laid it on the line for us and we came up a little empty. [He] made a diving stab at him, but he never quite got him on the ground. Again, when you look at it, I think it’s easy to obviously second-guess, but we need to start looking forward, instead of behind us.”

"When I saw that all-out blitz, I was like, 'That is so stupid,' " he said. "They hadn't really done that all day. Once he broke the contain, that's a wrap."

Last week, Tebow was 2 for 8 and the Broncos ran the ball 55 times (mostly featuring the read-option), and beat the Chiefs. Thursday, by our unofficial count, the Broncos ran conventional running plays 15 times and went with some form of the option (both run and pass) 22 times. Tebow finished the evening 9 for 20 for 104 yards, and added 68 yards on the ground on eight carries.

Before The (New) Drive, the Jets defense held Tebow to 6 of 15 passing for 69 yards, and two carries for 11 more over 11 drives. Those 11 drives resulted in eight punts, a turnover on downs, a fumble and a field goal. And then the alarm sounded…

Lost amid all the post-game revelry and Tebowing is something we pointed out on Friday's Pick-6 Podcast (see podcast player above): the real MVP of the game was rookie linebacker Von Miller. He harassed Mark Sanchez from start to finish, and if not for the play of the Broncos' defense, Tebow never would've been in position score the winning touchdown.

But they did and he was. And now the Broncos are 5-5.

Denver has as legit shot to win the AFC West because it's a weak division, but also because through Tebow, all things are possible.

No, it ain't pretty, but style points don't matter, remember?

Play by Play

(Note: Below are the plays -- both running and passing -- involving Tebow. You can view the entire play-by-play breakdown here)

Quotes

“He did it. Tim Tebow did it. He shocked me, he probably shocked a lot of people, but he did it. We played them well through the whole game, until that last play. We played them well. Tim Tebow's legs took them to victory, ran them to victory." - Jets CB Darrelle Revis.

"Everybody looks at him from the outside. They don't see what he has on the inside. Yeah, he might not be the greatest passer. But give him a chance at the end? I've never seen anything like it." - Broncos CB Champ Bailey

"It's a lot easier to believe when you see results. That's the biggest (win) I've been a part of. At 1-4, it was very gloomy. Now, our confidence is huge." - Broncos CB Andre Goodman

Some props for Miller:

“As far as (Jets right tackle) Wayne Hunter was concerned, he was going up against an outstanding football player. Von Miller, I think, will be a Pro Bowl player this year. If not this year, he’ll be one next year. And that’s going to be tough on anybody. I thought Wayne, for the most part, did a nice job on him, but he did get Wayne a couple of times. There’s no question about that. [Miller’s] just an outstanding player and those things happen. It’s unfortunate, but Wayne might block him for 90 percent of the time, but the 10 percent that the guy got the better of Wayne are the ones that everybody is going to be focused on.” - Jets head coach Rex Ryan

Speaking of Miller…

"Tebow magic. I believe in it. I feel so happy that he's having the success that he's having. I'm glad he's able to shut up his critics. It seems like everybody wants to bash him. They don't take into account his will." - Broncos LB Von Miller

Audio-Visual

Here are the moving-pictures of that final, fateful Broncos drive:

Stop. Tebow Time.

John Elway, like everybody else on the planet, doesn't know what to make of Tebow:

Elway and Tebow: two styles, same result (layin' it on a bit thick, we know).

Tebow on brushing off his doubters (of which there are many, though their numbers are dwindling):

Tim Tebow led another fourth-quarter comeback drive ending with a 20-yard touchdown run in the final minute, to lift the Broncos over the Jets 17-13 on Thursday night. Tebow had a few choice words for his critics.

While Tebow-mania descended upon Denver following the Broncos 17-13 win against the Jets on Thursday, the atmosphere inside New York’s locker room was a smidge different. Coach Rex Ryan, during his postgame presser, looked devastated and emotional, and there was an element of disbelief sprinkled among the players as they dressed for their trip home.

"I'm just so shocked right now," Revis said, via Newsday. "The only thing I can say is he ran the offense the best way he could and they ended up driving on us on that touchdown drive. He did it. Tim Tebow did it. He shocked me. He probably shocked a lot of people. But he did it."

Considering Revis said earlier in the week that Tebow running the option couldn’t work for a whole season and that “the biggest thing for the secondary is for us not to fall asleep,” Revis must have really been surprised by Tebow’s ability to lead his team on a game-winning 95-yard drive.

While Rex Ryan literally wrote the book on how to stop the read-option, the Jets made a critical mistake on the Broncos final offensive play of the game. With Denver facing a third and four from the Broncos 20-yard line, the Jets sent a full-out blitz up the middle of the line -- eight defenders rushed the quarterback -- but Tebow immediately recognized it, scrambled left, beat safety Eric Smith to the outside and raced to the end zone.

"Obviously, a critical error," Ryan said. "But Tebow made the play. We thought that play was coming, but we never got it defended."

Afterward, Ryan was asked about the thought process behind the decision to blitz, and he said (again, via Newsday), “I’d rather not.”

That’s because the play-call was a bit strange if the Jets were actually expecting the run. Which they were. If they thought Tebow was going to pass, an all-out blitz would have been a fine call. But that’s not what New York thought was going to happen. Which makes the play-call suspect.

“It's one of those things where you just have to catch him, because nobody else is around. It's frustrating when you play like that and you get to that last drive and they go 95 yards and you can't stop them."

Aha, that’s the power of Tebow Time. And for now, nobody is quite sure how to stop it. Not even the guy who wrote the book.

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With less than 6 minutes to play, Tim Tebow had 95 yards to salvation. Down by three points and playing in the comforts of home, Tebow, leader of men, could have been the hero for his team. And it’s actually what we’ve come to expect.

Of course, Tebow was going to lead the Broncos to the game-winning score, but there was no way he was actually going to do it. Right? Until that’s exactly what he did, leading a 12-play drive that ended with Tebow keeping the ball for himself to score the 20-yard touchdown.

It was crazy and heart-pumping and … just screwy. But it was also completely predictable.

“I trust him,” Broncos linebacker Von Miller said on the NFL Network afterward. “I trust him with everything. No matter how many interceptions he throws or how many touchdowns, I’m going to ride with him until the end.”

For the most part, Tebow had been his regular self -- barely an NFL quarterback. Not two-completion terrible, but bad nonetheless. Yet, the Broncos were within striking distance -- mostly because the Jets offense had been just as bad and because Broncos cornerback Andre Goodman intercepted Mark Sanchez and returned it for a touchdown to give Denver some much-needed points.

But there’s something about Tebow. I can’t put my finger on it. Obviously, none of his opponents can either. Never have we seen a quarterback who’s so clearly not an NFL quarterback continue to be successful as an NFL quarterback.

And as bad as this game was to watch, Tebow made it worth it in the final six minutes.

On the first snap of the drive, Tebow hit Eddie Royal on the goal line, and somehow the Broncos receiver barely escaped Jets safety Jim Leonhard in the end zone and ran for eight yards and out of safety danger. On the second snap, running the option, Tebow kept the ball, running 15 yards for the first down. Later, on third down and with the Broncos in a five-receiver split, Tebow kept it again and ran for the first down.

On the next play, he ran at Darrelle Revis, and Revis kind of side-stepped him, allowing Tebow to gain more yards. Tebow, once again, was playing eerily well with the game on the line. Once again, he had improved his game dramatically. Yes, some of his throws on that drive were grossly inaccurate -- he short-hopped at least one receiver -- but he also hit Dante Rosario for another first down at the Jets 29 yard line.

And then, redemption.

On third and four from the 20-yard line, he made the stadium explode when he recognized a blitz coming up the middle, scrambled around the left end of the line to avoid it, beat Eric Smith to the edge and then broke Smith’s tackle to score the game-winning touchdown.

You know, much was made this week about how Broncos coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy had installed a read-option offense that would increase Tebow’s potential success. Fox already had all but said that Tebow wouldn’t survive in a typical professional offense, so he would bring college ball back to Tebow.

For most of Thursday’s game, it still didn’t work. Occassionally, the Broncos showed flashes of how the option could be successful. But for the most part, Denver was shooting three-and-out blanks (although punter Dustin Colquitt had a pretty good night!). You could look at the game, and say, “See, a high school offense doesn’t work in the NFL.” And you’d be right.

But for some reason, it works for Tebow. And for some reason, Tebow works for the NFL. He wins games, and at this point, you have to stop using the caveat, “Well, he sucks.” Because at some point, that issue becomes moot, and the only thing that matters is this: Tebow is 4-1 as a starter, and the playoffs are still in sight.